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This characterful portrait, painted in 1587 by Robert Peake, exemplifies the robust individuality that underpinned his success as one of the leading court painters of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods. The sitter, Richard Wingfield – a politician and landowner from Suffolk – is painted with a striking realism that anticipates a distinctly English tradition of direct portraiture that would continue through the work of artists such as William Dobson, William Hogarth, and Joshua Reynolds in the centuries that followed.
For many years this sitter was incorrectly identified as Humphrey Wingfield, a distinguished lawyer who served Henry VIII. Only recent examination of the heraldry has restored the portrait’s true identity. The small black mullet within the Wingfield arms identifies the sitter as a third son, corresponding with documentary evidence for Richard Wingfield, while the inclusion of the Hardwick arms reflects his marriage to Mary Hardwick, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Hardwick. Such heraldic details were carefully constructed assertions...
This characterful portrait, painted in 1587 by Robert Peake, exemplifies the robust individuality that underpinned his success as one of the leading court painters of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods. The sitter, Richard Wingfield – a politician and landowner from Suffolk – is painted with a striking realism that anticipates a distinctly English tradition of direct portraiture that would continue through the work of artists such as William Dobson, William Hogarth, and Joshua Reynolds in the centuries that followed.
For many years this sitter was incorrectly identified as Humphrey Wingfield, a distinguished lawyer who served Henry VIII. Only recent examination of the heraldry has restored the portrait’s true identity. The small black mullet within the Wingfield arms identifies the sitter as a third son, corresponding with documentary evidence for Richard Wingfield, while the inclusion of the Hardwick arms reflects his marriage to Mary Hardwick, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Hardwick. Such heraldic details were carefully constructed assertions of lineage, marriage, and inherited status.
Richard was born into a wealthy and respectable Suffolk family. His father Anthony was a distinguished military commander who was appointed Privy-Councillor and Vice-Chamberlain to Henry VIII in 1539.[1] Two years later he was made a Knight of the Garter, and in 1551-52 held the position of Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk, which made him responsible for managing the county’s military forces on behalf of the king. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George de Vere and sister and co-heir of John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford.
Particularly striking is Wingfield’s display of jewellery. While female ornament often dominates discussions of Elizabethan fashion, jewels also played an important role in elite male self-presentation, sometimes signalling wealth and proximity to power.[2] Wingfield prominently presents the viewer with an elaborate gold pendant decorated with enamel, gemstones, and a suspended pearl. At its centre is a carved cameo profile - during the Elizabethan period, the ancient art of gem engraving was revived and elaborate jewels such as this were worn as indicators of affluence and erudition. The jewel was almost certainly highly personal and may have been bestowed as a mark of patronage, loyalty, or service. The date ‘20 DEC’ shown in the upper left was applied by a later hand but may possibly relate to a specific event which occasioned the presentation of the pendant.
Wingfield’s deliberate presentation of the pendant is similar to that of Sir Christopher Hatton, in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, whose own cameo presents an image of the Queen.[3] Such objects could function as coded statements of allegiance and advancement within the culture of the Elizabethan court. Nearby, Wingfield’s two signet rings further reinforce his identity and authority. One bears the Wingfield arms in reverse for sealing formal documents, and the other, decorated with wings punning on the family name, was perhaps reserved for more private correspondence.
[1] R.J.W. Swales, (1982) ‘WINGFIELD, Sir Anthony (by 1488-1552), of Letheringham, Suff.’, The History of Parliament Online. [online] Available at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/wingfield-sir-anthony-1488-1552 [accessed: 19 Feb. 2021].
[2] Natasha Awais-Dean, (2019) Bejewelled: Men and Jewellery in Tudor and Jacobean England. London: The British Museum.
[3] NPG 2162.
